#South Africa

If you live in Melville, or have lived in Melville at any point between December and April over the past few decades, then you know the call of the Mielie Lady.

You all know I’ve become obsessed with second-hand shopping – especially thrifted clothes curated by my friend Ryan of @threedogsthrift. And while I buy most of my clothes directly from Ryan, I’ve also become interested in sustainable shopping more generally. Joburg is a major hub for buying and selling second-hand clothes and I’m really keen to learn more about it.

I hadn’t planned to blog about the cosmos flowers in Delta Park this year. I’ve already done so multiple times: Once during my #Gauteng52 series and once (very memorably) right before South Africa’s covid-19 lockdown began two years ago. But I went to see the cosmos twice this week and they are so freaking spectacular this year…Or maybe they’re equally spectacular every year and I just forget. Either way, this annual autumn explosion is too good not to blog about again.

Not too long ago, I told you about my new obsession with plants. This plant obsession is of course accompanied by a pot obsession, and I am fortunate to live five minutes away from the best pottery place in Joburg: Liebermann Pottery.

I visited Cape Town for the first time more than 11 years ago, with my mother. During that trip, Mom and I attempted to climb Table Mountain in a hilariously foolish way – I’ll let you read about it yourself in the blog post I wrote back then, called How Not to Climb Table Mountain. We ultimately turned back and took the cable car to the top instead.

A couple of Sundays ago, Thorsten and I were finished hiking the Kloofendal Nature Reserve and looking for a place to eat. We were in Roodepoort – an area neither of us know well, dominated by big shopping centers – and had no idea where to go. Thorsten drove as I aimlessly searched Google Maps for interesting restaurants.